Truly her father’s daughter’ -- Remembering Margaret Truman Daniel

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2008 at 12:07 AM

On Tuesday, the Truman Presidential Library & Museum was a solemn place. Security guards kept their heads bowed. Michael Devine, the director of the museum, was tucked behind closed doors, occasionally picking up the phone to hear kind words from such dignitaries as ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. Early Tuesday morning, Margaret Truman Daniel, the only child of President Harry S. and Bess Wallace Truman, died in Chicago.

Hugh S. Welsh

On Tuesday, the Truman Presidential Library & Museum was a solemn place.
Security guards kept their heads bowed.
Michael Devine, the director of the museum, was tucked behind closed doors, occasionally picking up the phone to hear kind words from such dignitaries as ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.
Early Tuesday morning, Margaret Truman Daniel, the only child of President Harry S. and Bess Wallace Truman, died in Chicago.
She leaves behind three sons, Clifton Truman, Harrison Gates and Thomas Washington Daniel.
At the library itself, Margaret Daniel leaves behind many fond memories, ­some stored in the mind of Liz Safly, who has worked at the reference desk at the library since the early 1960s and saw Margaret Daniel on multiple occasions.
“I remember her from afar,” Safly said. “She was untouchable.”
On the library¹s Web site, www.trumanlibrary.org, is a condolence forum where people can deposit their feelings concerning Margaret Daniel.
“You’ll find condolences from the common man on the street to dignitaries,” said Amy Williams, deputy director at the library. “It’s just as Margaret would have preferred it.”
Among those expressing their thoughts is Ken Hechler, who was a White House assistant during the Truman presidential years.
“(Margaret Daniel) used to brag to her father that ‘the Truman campaign train is the only one which carries its own heckler right aboard,’” Hechler wrote.
Meanwhile, back at the library, Williams has just received word of a speech to take place on the House floor.
U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-4th, released a statement Tuesday from Washington stating he was deeply saddened by Daniel’s death. He called her a “good friend” with whom he had corresponded through the years.
“Margaret was an accomplished woman in her own right, but she also revered her father’s memory,” Skelton said. “I had the privilege to work closely with Margaret in 1984 when the House and Senate convened a Joint Session of Congress to honor the 100th anniversary of President Truman’s birth. I also had the honor of being with Margaret on the first day that the Truman Home in Independence, Missouri, was opened to the public as a museum in the National Park Service System. I will never forget watching her sign the guest book in her own home that day.
“Margaret Truman Daniel was a great American and an independent minded woman who was truly her father’s daughter. I send my deepest condolences to the family of Margaret Truman Daniel, including her three surviving sons, Clifton, Harrison, and Thomas.”
Later Tuesday, Skelton commemorated Daniel’s life with a speech on the House floor.
Contact Hugh S. Welsh at hugh.welsh@examiner.net.
Message from Ken Hechler
Ken Hechler was a long-serving West Virginia politician and White House assistant during Truman’s presidency. Taken from the condolence book on the Truman Presidential Museum & Library Web site, www.trumanlibrary.org.
Ever since starting to work in 1949 at the Truman White House, I have had a warm and friendly relationship with Margaret Truman. She used to brag to her father that “the Truman campaign train is the only one which carries its own heckler right aboard.”
Like her father, Margaret always spoke her own mind, regardless of conventional wisdom or “political correctness.” She voiced her sharp opinions of many political officials in and out of the Truman administration. Her favorite criticism was of those whom she felt were afflicted with “Potomac fever” or “too big for their britches.” Margaret and I carried on an active correspondence. When I sent her a copy of my reading list for a Marshall University seminar on the “life and times of Harry Truman,” she wrote back, “I don’t understand why you included the book ‘Plain Speaking’ by that good-for-nothing Merle Miller.”
Once when I sent her a list of people who underestimated her father, including (Thomas) Dewey, (Douglas) MacArthur, and President Truman’s mother-in-law, she shot back: “Please take my grandmother off your list.”
She just did not like politicians. She also debunked the widely circulated story that the ladies of the Independence Bridge Club were shocked by Truman’s use of the word “manure” to explain why the roses in the White House rose garden looked so well and how her mother had protested: “You don’t know how many years I’ve persuaded him to call it ‘manure.’”
Margaret contended that “this was a joke circulated by Truman’s military aide, Gen. (Harry) Vaughn. It never really happened.”
I will really miss my long friendship with Margaret Truman. My deepest sympathy is extended to her sons.

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